Conductor

How to spell conductor

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce conductor

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conductor mean?

1. nounA person who directs the performance of an orchestra or choir, usually with a baton.
2. nounAn official on a train, bus, or tram who collects fares and assists passengers.
3. nounA material or object that allows heat or electricity to pass through it.

Conductor in a sentence

• The conductor raised the baton and the orchestra fell silent.

• The conductor checked every ticket as the train left the station.

• Copper is an excellent conductor of electricity and is used in most wiring.

• A guest conductor from Vienna led the symphony that evening.

• She asked the conductor which stop was nearest to the museum.

• The engineer tested whether the new alloy worked as a heat conductor.

Where does conductor come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb conducere, which meant 'to bring together' or 'to lead along', formed from the prefix com- 'together' and the verb ducere 'to lead'. The past participle conductus gave the agent noun conductor, literally 'one who leads or brings together'. English took it up in the late 1300s through Old French, at first in the broad sense of a leader or guide, and over the centuries it specialised into several familiar roles: the person who directs musicians, the official who manages a railway or tram, and, from the eighteenth century onward, any material that 'leads' heat or electricity through itself. The same ducere root that means 'to lead' also powers a whole family of English words such as 'produce', 'reduce', and 'duct', so remembering the buried 'duct' inside conductor explains its spelling. The ending is the Latin agent suffix -or rather than -er, which is the usual stumbling point when writing it.

How the word is built

• con- (together, from Latin com-)
• duct (lead, from Latin ducere)
• -or (agent noun suffix: one who, or that which)